Man gets life term for murder

Mount Dora resident says he didn't kill friend

TAVARES -- Damion Clark was sentenced Friday to life in prison for the murder of a family friend, despite again maintaining his innocence in a plea to the slain man's siblings.

Clark, 21, was accused of shooting Wayne Tolbert in a car after an argument over $20.

"This ain't justice," the Mount Dora man said to Tolbert's family and Circuit Judge G. Richard Singeltary. "I told you the truth. I'm telling the truth now. I didn't do it."

Singeltary also rejected Clark's plea for a new trial. Defense lawyer Jerona Maiyo said Clark should have a new trial because deputy sheriffs failed to collect a shirt worn by Tolbert's nephew, Benny Tolbert, who was in the car.

She argued that the shirt was "important and relevant" evidence that could have been used to prove Clark's story that the nephew killed the uncle.

She said it might have shown Benny Tolbert pulled the trigger, as Clark insisted. She added that it might have had the victim's blood on it.

Clark's grandmother and aunt described Clark as a gentle, caring man who ran away from fights as a child. His girlfriend, Adrianna Brosious, said that he had been a good father to her five children and that she would stand beside him until the truth vindicated him.

"The Damion I know is not capable of committing this crime," she said.

But Singeltary had no choice in the sentence.

A jury Jan. 12 found Clark guilty of second-degree murder, punishable by a maximum of 30 years in prison. But he had to be given life because the law viewed him as a repeat offender.

He was released from prison just seven months before the killing and was on probation for three felonies at the time -- robbery and two counts of illegally possessing a firearm.

Assistant State Attorney Bill Gross spoke for Wayne Tolbert.

He used family pictures to show Tolbert was not an ill-tempered, often-jailed and annoying character as the defense had suggested when offering a motive for the nephew.

"I know Wayne was no saint," Gross said. "He had a problem with drugs. [But] he was a funny guy. He made everyone laugh."